Sunday, March 30, 2008

Alexander Street Press Free Music Download of the Week

Alexander Street Press is offering Ginastera's Estancia Suite, Op. 8a as their free classical music download of the week on their Website. Every two weeks, they will offer a complete work from their Classical Music Library. To stay up-to-date with the most current offering, you can link to: http://alexanderstreet.typepad.com/music/

Classical Music Library Free Download of the Week: Ginastera's Estancia Suite, Op. 8a"On a tour of South America with the American Ballet Caravan in 1941, Lincoln Kirstein commissioned a ballet from Alberto Ginastera with an Argentine subject. The composer responded with the one-act Estancia.

Choosing a typical Argentine estancia (a cattle ranch on the pampas) as his setting, Ginastera taps into the 'gauchesco' literary tradition, quoting from the epic poem Martin Fierro in numbers sung by a baritone. Gauceschos were Argentine cowboys who worked the cattle, and Ginastera quickly became the musical voice of their tradition.

The piece was first performed in Buenos Aries on 12 May 1943.

This recording is performed by the Carlos Chavez Symphony Orchestra; Fernando Lozano, conductor. "